Uncommon Moments
by Dark Seraphim
Summary: It's rare for Hakkai to have time alone with a sleeping Gojyo, so he savors it as much as he can. HakkaiGojyo.


_Notes: It's rare for Hakkai to have time alone with a sleeping Gojyo, so he savors it as much as he can. This one turned out to be harder than I thought. This is also my first Saiyuki fic ever._

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Ninety-percent of the time Gojyo is fighting something or something. Usually, someone is Goku, the Monkey King, and that would take about eighty-five percent of the ninety-percent previously mentioned. Of the eighty-five percent, half of it is about food, especially when Goku is hungry and he is always hungry. No calculation needed there. The other half consists of personality clashes expected of two entirely different people. Were it not for Sanzo shutting the both of them up, Hakkai would have driven his jeep off a cliff. Patience is a virtue, but it can wear thin, very thin.

Just that, Hakkai is different from Gojyo too, from all of them, yet he seldom quarrels with anyone. He just isn't the sort, so he isn't often a target. Hakkai is fine with that. He fights only when he has to while everyone fights when they feel like it, which is all the damned time. Sometimes Hakkai finds it amusing; sometimes he just thinks it gets old. Either way, he will never get tired of them and they know it, especially Gojyo.

The room they both stay in is quiet, which is a welcome break from the usual. Hakkai could practically marinate in it. He figures that he should savor it while he can because he knows that the next day will be full of fighting. Gojyo is asleep, his hair spilling over the white pillow like spilled water. Sleep is the only time he ever is quiet, and that's great for Hakkai because he can then do what he usually does in situations like this.

When he isn't reading a book, he watches him, and while doing so, can never help but smile. Gojyo never knows that he's being stared at while he is the most vulnerable, and Hakkai intends to keep it that way. He wouldn't want to ruin moments often taken for granted by just about everyone in the world.

_This is the only time you're peaceful. One day, I'll be able to tell you that._

Hakkai isn't sure when that one day would happen. Not because he's afraid, but because he doesn't want to deal with Gojyo possibly looking at him like he sprouted nine heads. He could see it now.

_Peaceful? What?_

_Eh, that's how you look. I like watching you sleep._

_Freak!_

Okay, maybe it wouldn't be that bad, but Hakkai would rather not risk it. He doesn't want anymore noise. All he wants to hear is breathing, the crickets chirping outside, and the cool gust of wind as it rustles through leaves. Sometimes Hakkai wonders what it's like to sleep with the windows open. Sanzo always did because he liked the feel of the wind gliding against his slumbering skin. Goku never cared either way. As for Gojyo and Hakkai, they never asked each other, but kept the window shut. Wind gets annoying when it flips book pages or messes up carefully kept hair. Worse yet, it would bring more noise than what Hakkai can tolerate during the night.

Gojyo doesn't snore, a fact that pleases Hakkai because that noise would be met with thrown shoes and bunking with Goku. He doesn't mind rooming with Sanzo or Goku, but neither one of them look like the serenity of a still lake. One looks like he's having eating dreams while the other looks like a constant grouch. Hakkai will never know what he looks like while asleep because he's the last one to go to bother. Catching up on reading will do that to someone.

Hakkai wishes he could be alone with Gojyo more often. Usually, all four of them end up bunking together in the same room, and that makes it difficult to watching anything except for the backs one's own eyelids. That is, when they're not pried open by three other people fighting over who gets the bed and which covers they get to snuggle in. Then, there's HUNGRY. Goku is always hungry, and even when asleep, he is always LOUD. Then, there's the fact that it's impossible to watch anyone do anything because more people meant an increased likelihood of getting caught watching someone else sleep.

Now, Hakkai gets a precious night where he can watch whatever he wants without interruption. Gojyo stirs a bit and licks his lips. Hakkai thinks he is dreaming of either food, poker winnings, or women. Maybe all three. He could never forget how Gojyo tends to want it all. Part of his charm, which is another thing Hakkai can't or won't forget.

They have a history together. One full of healing a variety of wounds, getting to know more and more of each other, bonding in ways they never thought they would. Hakkai's past is full of rocks, but Gojyo kicked them all away. Everything is better now, blood is washed away like dirt. Rocks aren't so big now, and they look like rubies rather than jutting, hurtful things. Smiles come easily again, and laughter is no longer a luxury afforded to those with better lives.

Hakkai doesn't remember when he started watching Gojyo sleep. He figures that it was probably after he recovered from his wounds inflicted so long ago. He remembers how pain gave him insomnia, so the water sprite would fall asleep first. He couldn't help it, and now he knows that he would never want to.

Sometimes he wonders if Gojyo watches him too. In situations like this, Hakkai is the second to awaken, so it stands to reason that the water would probably steal some glimpses now and then. Only, none one it could be proven. He wouldn't know what to think of Gojyo did, not that he would mind, especially since nothing would come of it.

He finds himself tempted to lean over and seal Gojyo's sleep with a kiss, but he doesn't. Too risky. No one in the group likes to wake each other up, and Hakkai would rather not deal with waking chaos right now. Besides, there's plenty of time for kisses and acts that could blister paint later. For now, Hakkai simply watches, just like he always does in these uncommon moments.


End file.
